Rail-bender.



E. F. BENNETT.

RA'IL BENDER. 7 APPLICATION FILED APR. [2, I91]- Patented Dec. 25,1912

ELLWOOD F. BENNETT, 0F SAYRE, PENNSYLVANIA.

RAIL-BENDER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 25, 1917.

Application filed April 12, 1917. Serial No. 161,567.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ELLwoon F. BENNETT, acitizen of the United States, residing at Sayre, Pennsylvania, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Rail-Benders, of whichthe following is a specification.

This invention relates to rail bending machines especially designed forsurface bending, that is, bending or straightening rails in their normalvertical plane.

The principal objects are to make a machine which may be moved todifferent positions along the rail and adjusted for the bending actionvery quickly and easily, and one which has powerful bending mechanismarranged so that the machine is relieved of any strains caused by thechanging position of the bending plunger in the different positions thatthe rail assumes during one bending operation.

The characteristics and advantages of the invention will be furtherdescribed so far as is necessary in connection with a detaileddescription of the accompanying drawing which shows one exemplifyingembodiment of the invention. After considering this it will be evidentto persons skilled in the art that the principles of the invention maybe embodied in many different forms, and I do not limit myself todetails except as claimed hereafter.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of one form of the invention shown inposition on a rail to be bent.

Fig. 2 is a transverse section on the line aa, Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a transverse section on the line bb, Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a transverse section at 0c, Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a top plan, one of the yokes, however, being shown intransverse section.

Fig. 6 is a top plan detail of a part of the frame showing the yokechannels.

Fig. 1 shows the frame 1 of the machine placed upon a rail 2 to be bent.The rail is conveniently supported on transverse beams 3 to hold thebase of the rail some distance from the ground, for reasons which willappear. Part 1 of the frame is preferably curved as shown to enable theframe to readily adapt itself to the tread of the rail when the machineis being adjusted for bending and during the bending operation. Adjacentto the point 4 the frame at each side is provided with a verticalchannel 5, these channels being defined by vertical ribs 6. Holding-downlinks or yoke members 7 (Figs. 1 and 5) are provided, each of which hasa part 8 adapted to rest in one of the channels 5. At the upper end ofeach of the yoke members is a head 9 provided with lugs 10 havingarc-shaped bottoms which extend over and rest upon the tops of ribs 6.Toward their lower ends the yoke men bers are curved outward and theninward forming hooks 11 arranged to lie beneath the rail base. Theconfronting faces of these hooks are preferably arranged to engage eachother with a certain degree of loose ness. Specific means for thispurpose consist in a groove 12 formed in one of the hooks and a rib 13formed on the other, this rib and groove fitting together some whatloosely, as shown. A connecting plate l l'is provided which has a flattop to lie under the rail base, and on its bottom has beveled ribs 15fitting with a certain degree of loosene-ss the complemental channels 16formed in the uppersides of hooks 11. In some cases, for the properadjustment of the machine, one or more additional flat plates may beplaced between the connecting plate 14 and the rail base. The yokemembers are preferably provided with handles 17 which may consist ofsimple T-pieces screwed into the tops of the yoke members for easilyhandling them.

At one end of the frame 1 a wedge 18 is provided. This preferably hasside flanges 19 to guide it in respect to the frame and other shallowerflanges 20 to guide it in respect to the rail head. To adjust the wedge,a bell-crank lever 21 is provided. This has a loop form and is pivotedat each side to the frame at 22, conveniently by means of a bolt whichmay pass entirely through the frame. At each side the lever 21 has arms23, slotted to engage studs 24: provided at the sides of the wedge.

At the same end of the frame a handle 25 may also be provided,consisting in this case of a U-shaped piece connected at each end to thebolt 22.

At the other end of the frame a head 26 is formed, vertically aperturedto receive cylinder 27 of the hydraulic mechanism. Considerableclearance is provided in a longitudinal direction between the cylinderand the walls of the frame. Near the bottom the cylinder is providedwith laterally extending lugs 28 and the head 26 is provided near thetop with inwardly extending lug 29. The tops of the cylinder lugs 28 areprovided with curved faces 30 and between these faces and the bottoms oflugs 29 are inserted blocks 31 which have curved lower faces tocooperate with the curved surfaces 30 of the cylinder lugs. Thedescribed arrangement permits the hydraulic cylinder with its plunger,during the bending operation, to oscillate with respect to the frame ina longitudinal direction, and so prevents the strains due the varyingcurvature of the rail and the varying position of the hydraulic plungerand cylinder from being communicated to the frame or from injuring anypart of the bending mechanism.

The cylinder 27 carries suitable hydraulic mechanism for operating theplunger 32, the lower end of which grooved at 33 to conformapproximately to the shape of the rail tread. Instead of hydraulicmechanism screw mechanism could evidently be located in the member 27.

Then the wedge 18 is loosened the entire machine may be easily shiftedalong the rail to the desired point and when the plunger 32 issuiiioiently retracted the machine is prepared for bending by tighteningthe wedge by means of handle 21. The hydraulic or other plungeroperating means is then actuated to straighten the rail to the desiredextent; the wedge is a ain loosened, the machine shifted, and so on.Whenever the wedge is loosened, yoke member 7 may be quickly and easilyremoved to pass one of the beams 3 which support the rail or to permitthe entire machine to be shifted to another rail, and these yoke membersmay be as easily replaced owing to their separate construction andinterlocking devices above described. At the same time the loose fit ofthe interlocking devices, comprisingthe plate 1i, ribs 15 and grooves16, lug 13 and groove 12, permit the hooked ends of the yoke members tomove sufficiently in relation to each other and in relation to plate15': to accommodate the parts to irregularities in the rail base.

iVhile the machine is described for convenience as a bending machine,one of its chief purposes, as is evident from the foregoing, is tostraighten bent rails; for instance, in restoring old rails toserviceable condition, and for this purpose the machine especially welladapted.

I claim 1. In a rail bending machine, the combination of a frame,bending mechanism carried thereby, holding-down means to hold the frameto a rail at a point between its ends, a wedge at one end of the frameengaging between the frame and the railhead and adapted to quickly takeup play when the machine is being adjusted for bending, and means forconnecting the wedge movably with the frame and for movin the wedgelongitudinally in respect to the frame and rail.

2. In a rail bending machine, the combination of a frame having a curvedbottom part to engage a rail head, vertical channels adjacent to thecurved part, two separable yoke members located in the channels andhaving heads to engage the frame, said yoke members having hook-shapedbottom ends to underlie the rail base and relatively loose interlockingmeans, a connecting plate arranged to lie between the hooks and the railbase and having relatively loose means for interlocking with the hooks,a Wedge and wedge operating means at one end of the frame and bendingmechanism at the other end of the frame.

3. In a rail bending machine, the combination of a frame having a curvedbottom part to engage a rail head, two separable yoke members havingheads to engage the frame and having hook-shaped bottom ends to underliethe rail-base adjacent to said curved part of the frame, a connectingplate arranged to lie between the hooks and the rail base and havingmeans for interlocking loosely with the hooks, a Wedge and Wedgeoperating means at one end of the frame and bending mechanism at theother end of the frame; said wedge having a flat bottom forming a fiatsurface engaging the rail head and extendin along the head a substantialdistance 'rom one end of said curved portion of the frame, and saidconnecting plate extending along the rail base for a substantialdistance opposite to said curved frame portion.

ELLl/VOOD F. BENNETT.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patent Washington, D. 0. i

